


Faute de mieux

by Sneakend



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deaf Character, Dialogue Heavy, Established Relationship, F/M, Getting Together, Gossip, Implied Relationships, M/M, Minor Injuries, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Sign Language, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 21:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30044694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneakend/pseuds/Sneakend
Summary: Law's married, but nobody knows to whom. Reiju is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Relationships: Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante/Vinsmoke Reiju, Eustass Kid/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 9
Kudos: 36
Collections: One Piece Bingo 2020/2021





	Faute de mieux

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lojo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lojo/gifts).



> Written for the One Piece bingo (for the prompt "surprise romance")
> 
> Gifting this to lojo because it wouldn't exist without them! Hope someone else enjoys this ship because we've already planned a bunch of sequels.

"Today, Law was wearing a wedding ring," Reiju said dramatically as she placed her tray down on the cafeteria table.

Kaya, serene as always, lifted her gaze from her salad bowl. "I'm happy for him."

Reiju dismissed the reply with a wave of her hand. "Yes, yes, all that, but more importantly, who'd consent to marry someone like him?"

"You're such a bitch," Bonney said in between shoving food in her mouth. She always had enough to feed at least a family of four.

"Well, have you met him? Most doctors aren't banned from pediatrics because they made the children cry." That had been a glorious day and Reiju cherished being able to remind people about it.

"Whoever it is, I hope they make him happy," Kaya said with a dreamy smile.

Reiju would've bet money that she was already mentally composing invitations to her own wedding, even though Usopp hadn't even proposed yet.

"Can't be anyone from work," Bonney pointed out. "We'd know."

Reiju nodded along. "Right, right. Has he ever mentioned anyone?"

"I don't really talk to him." Kaya frowned. "Did you try asking him?"

"Of course! He told me to fuck off," Reiju sighed, taking a bite of her sandwich.

Bonney snorted. "Serves you right. But I dunno, even when he got drunk at the Christmas party he just ranted about prions, good luck trying to pry anything out of him."

"God, he must be insufferable to live with." As far as Reiju knew, Law didn't have a single friend at the hospital. "Do you think he could be gay?"

Kaya blinked at her. "What makes you say that?"

Reiju shrugged. "Just can't believe he's never hit on me."

"You're just as bad as him, sis," Bonney said.

Reiju was about to point out that she resented being compared to Law when Kaya piped up. "Uhm, Reiju?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Maybe you could ask his dad, doesn't he come by often?"

"Kaya! That's a great idea!" Reiju exclaimed, admonishing herself for not having thought about it.

Law's dad was indeed chronically prone to accidents and visited the hospital at minimum once a month. Usually, it was Law who took care of the injuries, glaring daggers at anyone who even dared to suggest helping. He liked to pretend that it was because no one else knew sign language but Reiju knew better — Law just didn’t think anyone was at his level when it came to medicine. It shouldn't be impossible to get a minute or two alone with Rosinante, though. Law couldn't always come down immediately, after all, Reiju just had to catch him on a day when Law was in the middle of a surgery.

Bonney shook her head. "I feel sorry for the man. And myself, why wasn't I invited to the wedding?"

"I didn't take you for a romantic," Reiju said.

"Who gives a shit about that? Weddings have free food and free booze!"

Kaya let out a little giggle and Reiju couldn’t help but smile, that did sound more like Bonney.

* * *

Despite having a plan of action the topic didn't leave Reiju in peace. Once she fixated on something she didn't give up before she had her answers. And the best way to get them was to recruit more accomplices. She'd already explained the situation to Marco during a "toilet break" she’d taken in order to write and send a giant wall of text to him without interruption from any of the nurses.

Apparently, Marco hadn't had the luxury of taking a break because he'd left Reiju on read. She might've taken offense if she hadn't known he'd never voluntarily pass up on a chance to hear a new piece of gossip. Luckily, as Reiju rounded the corner she could see Marco attending to a patient. The fact that she could also see Law not too far away didn’t deter her one bit and she took the opportunity to hang around — she had to pick Marco’s brain about Law. She pretended to busy herself with the blanket warmer until Marco turned towards her.

"Who do you think it is?" she asked him, knowing he'd catch on.

Marco was idly reading his chart and didn't even lift his gaze as he answered, "don't know."

Reiju tilted her head to the side. "A woman?"

"I doubt it." Marco rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Trafalgar doesn't seem like the type."

"Trafalgar doesn't seem like the marrying type," Reiju said, crossing her arms.

She hated that Law wouldn't open up about his private life no matter how much she pried. She could only imagine how hard he made life for his spouse.

Marco raised his brows and nodded. "He basically lives at work."

Law, who was talking to the nurse at the nearby nurses' station finished up his conversation and turned to them with a frown. "I can hear you."

"Good," said Reiju, tucking some hair behind her ear. "We're trying to guess who you conned into marrying you."

"That's a secret," Law said as he picked up another chart and clicked his pen. "You'll never guess."

Reiju narrowed her eyes. "I'll figure it out. You just wait."

She could draw blood from a stone. Extracting one little piece of gossip should be no challenge at all.

"Whatever you say." It became apparent that the conversation was over when Law turned his back on them to head out.

Marco raised his voice enough that Law could hear him. "At least give us a hint?"

But all they got was a raised middle finger and the view of Law's back as he strode down the hallway.

"When you said he doesn't seem like the type, what exactly did you mean?" Reiju asked after a moment.

"Hmm? Oh, just noticed him checking out my ass more than once," Marco said.

He could've been lying but they'd been friends for years, Reiju doubted Marco would try to pull a fast one on her like that.

"Interesting," she said.

* * *

The week changed to another and Reiju groaned audibly as she made her way into the dressing room. If there was anything worse than Mondays, it was Mondays like these when it rained all morning, ruining her new heels before she'd even gotten a chance to parade them around the hospital.

"Good morning," Kaya greeted her, already dressed for her shift. As far as Reiju knew, Kaya had never been late to work.

"Morning, morning," Reiju returned the greeting, peeling off her soaked coat. As she turned to check her make-up in the mirror she noticed Kaya shooting a nervous glance towards her. "What is it?"

"I don't know if I should say," Kaya hesitated, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "but I saw Dr. Trafalgar this weekend. And he wasn't alone!"

That immediately caught Reiju's attention. "You don't say? Tell me everything."

"I went to the new cafe by the library, my boyfriend knows the owner."

"How is Usopp?"

"He's, he's just fine," Kaya answered, her face flushing.

"Girl, he is, I've seen him shirtless."

"Anyway, he was there with a woman and she was gorgeous," Kaya said, sounding impressed.

"Did they seem close?" Reiju asked. It was always possible the woman was a friend or a relative.

"She was all hands."

"Could it be the wife," Reiju wondered.

"They both had similar looks," Kaya said without further elaboration. "I've heard people who look similar are often attracted to each other."

"If she ever shows up around here, don't forget to tell me," Reiju said, waiting till Kaya gave her a nod.

* * *

It took till afternoon for Reiju to locate Marco but once she did, she slid next to him, grabbing his sleeve to make sure he couldn't escape. "Guess what."

"Ah, Reiju, just who I wanted to see."

"You missed me?" Reiju asked, batting her eyelashes at him knowing full well he was immune to her flirtation.

"I've got," Marco said, lowering his voice, "information."

"So do I."

"Please, do go first."

Reiju didn't hesitate to share her conversation from earlier that day. "Kaya saw Law with a lady this weekend, she's not convinced about your theory that he's gay."

"Hate to tell you but I can prove my theory."

"No way!" Reiju exclaimed.

If they could narrow down Law's spouse into 50% of the population, well, that still wouldn't be too helpful. But that didn't mean she'd forego getting her hands on any available evidence.

"Yes. I saw him at The Evening Botanist. But you didn't hear that from me."

"A gay club? Law? You're sure?"

"I may be wearing glasses but I'm not blind."

"Huh. Well, technically straight people can go to gay clubs too, you've taken me many times," Reiju pointed out. “Also, bisexuals exist.”

Marco gave her a blank look. "If he's straight, I'll treat you to dinner in the fanciest place in town."

"Deal."

* * *

"Dude, he's here now," Bonney said, sticking her head into the room Reiju was in.

Reiju raised her eyes from the prescription she was writing. "What are you talking about?"

"Law's dad, dummy, he's bleeding all over the waiting room!"

"Ooh, he's mine!" Reiju got up fast enough to send her chair rolling across the room.

She jogged down the hallway and into the waiting room only to realize Bonney hadn't been joking — there was a shocking amount of blood on the floor. Its source was sitting patiently in the chair though, looking a little pale but not otherwise bothered. She hadn’t interacted with him much in the past but she knew he could read lips.

"Hi," she greeted him with a little wave and then motioned with her hand for him to follow. "Please come with me."

She led him to an empty room and got him settled down. "Here, sit down before you pass out."

He followed her instructions, even extending his bleeding arm to her without any prompting. Reiju inspected the wound carefully.

"How did this happen?" she asked, raising her head enough that he could see her face.

As their eyes met, she was struck by how good-looking he was. Somehow she hadn’t paid enough attention before but now, sitting mere inches from each other, it was impossible to ignore. He raised his eyebrows at her and she could feel herself blushing. Not only had she been staring, she realized he couldn’t answer her without something to write on. She offered him an apologetic smile and got to work on his arm. The wound was deep enough to require stitches but that was hardly a challenge, and so she had him cleaned up and good to go in no time at all.

As she finished putting away her supplies Rosinante signed something at her. It was only three signs and although she wasn't familiar with the alphabet she could guess the meaning.

"Law? He's busy with another patient. I'm sorry you had to deal with me."

Right at that moment, there was a bang on the door loud enough to make her grimace. Good thing she'd had the presence of mind to lock it behind her.

"Reiju! Open the door!" Law’s angry voice echoed into the room.

Reiju chose to ignore him, turning back to Rosinante. "Can I ask you a question?"

He gave her a curious look but nodded.

"Who's Law married to?"

He signed at her again, three signs but different from before. She could recognize the first but the others escaped her. He could've easily typed his answer up on his phone but Reiju didn’t think it would be polite to suggest that, surely Rosinante had thought of it himself already. She held up a finger to him and, still ignoring Law's increasingly insistent knocking, searched for the sign language alphabet. Thankfully, Rosinante had taken pity on her and spelled the question out.

"Why? I'm just curious. Can you give me a hint? Pretty please?" She even put her hands together mimicking a prayer.

He stared at her for a second, then shrugged and made a sign that kind of looked like he was patting something invisible.

"I... Don't know what that means," Reiju said as if that wasn't obvious.

Law chose that moment to crash into the room, probably having tracked down someone with a key.

"I'm going to murder you," he growled at Reiju before turning his attention to Rosinante.

Reiju took that as a sign to make her escape.

* * *

It took her ages to solve the mystery of the sign. Even with the help of the internet, it wasn't easy to look for answers, it wasn't like you could just type in a sign. It would've been so much easier if she could've just asked another person but the only one apart from Rosinante that knew sign language was Law and she could not ask him. She was about to give up when the familiar sign popped up in the video she was watching.

But even with her newly acquired knowledge, she wasn't much closer to finding an answer to her original question. She was still thinking about it at work the next day as she sat next to Marco and Bonney in the break room.

"What's with the long face?" Marco asked her.

"Marco, you've got to help me," Reiju said. "Law's dad was here yesterday and I begged him for—“

"I'd do too," Marco cut her off.

"Marco! This isn't about your sex life," Reiju huffed at him.

"Yeah, it's about Law's."

"He wouldn't give me a straight answer but he gave me a hint and it was this," Reiju said, copying the sign to the best of her ability. "It means _child_."

"So his wife's pregnant," Bonney concluded.

"Or his husband's surname is Child," Marco offered.

Reiju rolled her eyes at them. "How's that helpful! This hospital alone is full of pregnant ladies and Child's such a common surname!"

"And our guesses could be wrong," Marco added, ever the optimist.

"Probably are," Bonney agreed.

* * *

Reiju was forced to let the whole issue simmer for a while since there were no new leads. Law was conspicuously absent from everywhere she went. He never was a social butterfly but this was clearly deliberate. She tried hounding Kaya and Marco for help but Law seemed to be avoiding _everyone_. Her lucky break came when she was passing through the hospital entrance at the same time as Rosinante. This time she couldn't spot any blood but he was walking with a prominent limp.

She aimed a bright smile at him, this was her chance.

"Good morning, beautiful," she signed, a little clumsily but quite proud of herself for remembering at least a few of the signs she'd been practicing.

He looked surprised by her greeting, turning around to look over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't talking to someone else. He turned back towards her with a frown. Adorable.

"Yes, you," she signed, excited to be using her vocabulary that consisted of about fifteen words so far. Unfortunately, she'd had only limited time to dedicate to language learning due to her job.

Rosinante smiled at her and for a moment Reiju forgot how to breathe. Nobody should've looked that good on a rainy autumn morning under the unforgiving fluorescent lights of the hospital but somehow he managed it.

"How's your arm?" she asked, making a move towards him but waiting for him to pull his sleeve up, presenting a neat row of stitches.

Reiju circled his wrist with her hand, pulling the wound closer for inspection. It looked fine, clearly on its way to being fully healed. Instead of letting go, however, she ran a finger across it lightly, just to keep touching him longer. She was too focused on Rosinante to notice Law's approach before he was next to her, physically pushing her to the side.

"Don't even think about it," he said.

"Think about what?"

"Taking advantage of Cora.” He gave her a dark look.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Sure, they’d never been the best of friends but Reiju wondered if she hadn’t permanently damaged their relationship when she’d involved herself with Rosinante.

"Don't you have work to do?" Law asked dismissively, already turning away from her.

That was her cue to leave but she refused to take orders from Law, he had no authority over her. He signed something to Rosinante and without waiting for an answer started down the hallway. Rosinante turned to go with him but not without waving Reiju goodbye.

* * *

Reiju couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Law sitting alone in the cafeteria later that day.

"How's Rosinante's leg?" she asked as she sat down at his table.

"If you think I'm going to violate HIPAA for you then you're even more delusional than I thought," he said.

"Okay, rude." It was hard to believe someone as dreamy as Rosinante had raised someone with such foul manners.

Reiju took a sip of her coffee, eyeing Law’s lunch curiously. It was packed in a sleek lunch box and had been wrapped in a paper bag that Law had discarded on the table. She snatched it, smoothing out the crinkles. Someone had doodled little figures on it and she wasn’t sure what they were supposed to depict. One of them seemed to be holding a gun.

"Does your wife have a kid?"

"Why?" Law asked, lifting the lid off his lunch box.

"These look like something a child would scribble," Reiju said. As her eyes fell on the contents of Law’s lunch she couldn’t help a jab of jealousy, "oh my god, did you marry a chef?"

His food was meticulously arranged into geometric shapes, the kinds you might see on a professional food blog. She’d thought only competitive mothers took the time to prepare such immaculate lunch boxes but it seemed like she’d been wrong.

Law scoffed, not confirming or denying her assumption. "Can you fuck off."

"Nope, it's my snack break," she said, taking a bite of her banana. "Just tell me, how did you even meet someone? You practically live here."

"As flattering as your obsession with me is, I'm going to report you to HR if you don't stop."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

"You report me," Reiju said, waiting till Law lifted his eye to meet hers, "and I'll start dating your dad."

Law’s eyes widened in surprise before he schooled his expression back into indifference. "Good luck, he doesn't date."

Reiju offered him a smug smile. "He's never been asked out by _me_.”

* * *

"I'm going to ask Law's dad out," Reiju announced, parking her ass on the edge of Marco’s desk.

"You? The one who scolded me for thinking with my dick?"

"Yes, well, I don't have a dick, do I?"

Marco scratched the back of his head. "How should I know."

"This is off-topic," Reiju said, staring into the distance. "I'll have to tell him I can't be his doctor anymore."

"I mean, you aren't his doctor now."

"Might as well be, he prefers me."

"Because you call him beautiful."

Reiju narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?"

"Thought I might as well get a hobby too, been taking a sign language class for the past month," Marco said nonchalantly, leaning back in his chair.

"No!" Reiju protested.

"What?"

"You're still thinking with your dick!"

"We'll see," Marco leered at her.

"I call dibs!"

"Are you five? You can't call dibs on a person."

"Watch me."

* * *

It was not good, Marco getting it into his head that Rosinante was dating material. Obviously, he _was_ , but Marco wasn’t allowed to get involved when she’d just realized it herself. She had to move fast because Marco had absolutely no shame, he’d probably make a proposition that’d earn him a punch in the face.

As luck would have it, she ran into Rosinante at the parking lot that evening. She needed a way of contacting him, she couldn’t just rely on him showing up at the hospital.

"Hello," he greeted her.

"I missed you," she signed to him with a smile, hoping she wasn’t being too forward, and switched back to English. "Are you hurt?"

He shook his head, dug out his cellphone, and typed something in before holding it out for Reiju to read. _I'm here to see Law._

"Let me see that." She took the phone, quickly typing in a message and sending it to her own number. _Now we can send messages to each other._

Once he had his phone back, Rosinante sent her another message. _If you want to know about Law's husband, it's not really my place to share that information._

Reiju read it and typed in a reply without even lifting her gaze. _Husband, huh?_

Once she saw Rosinante’s face she realized he wasn’t exactly happy about the mistake he’d made. In fact, he looked stricken.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him," Reiju hastened to assure him. "We can just delete these... And it's like it didn't even happen! Let's try again."

_I don't care about Law. I want to talk about you._ She sent to their now-empty chat.

_i don't really know what you mean_

For a second she considered typing something childish like "do you like me y/n?" but that'd have probably just made him more confused.

_Would you go out with me?_ she wrote and then added for good measure, _on a date._

It was hardly her smoothest move but she hadn't exactly had time to plan this.

_Really? With me?_ He eyed her suspiciously.

"Don't look so surprised," she said. Surely he got asked out constantly? Maybe he had an issue with her personally?

_Can I think about it?_ He looked a little lost like this was the last thing he’d expected to happen.

"Take all the time you need."

* * *

She'd done the mature thing, reacting to his borderline rejection so well. She hadn't behaved passive-aggressively or even sent him a single desperate message all day. Focus on your work, Reiju told herself, only to jump to check her phone every time she received a text.

It was impossible to keep her thoughts from wandering and though nobody had commented on it yet, Bonney had given her more than a few judgemental looks.

Reiju wasn't a stranger to the dating world, but now that she thought about it she realized she'd never before been the one doing the chasing. It'd always been someone approaching her, and so she'd always been in the position to either accept their proposal or reject it. She had never had to just sit and wait. It was a novel experience for sure, but too agonizing to relive after this, regardless of Rosinante’s response.

As her phone pinged with a notification she surged towards it. Unfortunately, the message was from Marco.

_Which ones should I buy?_ he asked. He’d attached an image of three different pairs of shoes.

_The most expensive ones. Now leave me alone._ She didn't need to be distracted by inane crap like that.

_okay. Who pissed in your cheerios?_   
_wait_   
_did you get rejected???_

_BLOCKED_ , she typed to him. Maybe he’d take a hint. Or she’d be forced to actually utilize the block function.

Unfortunately, Marco only took that as a sign to call her instead.

"Why are you calling me?" she asked.

"Why did you answer?"

"I'm hanging up, bye."

"Wait!” he protested. “You sounded stressed. What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it.” That much should’ve been clear from her texts.

"You don't want to talk about yourself? Please," Marco scoffed.

"He said he's gonna think about it," she confessed. "So obviously that's a no."

"Are you kidding me? That's not a no."

"Then why not just say yes, hmm?"

"Listen. He probably doesn't want to date Law's coworkers without asking his opinion on the matter. Ever think of that?"

"You think that's it?" Reiju brightened up only to groan in frustration, "oh god, but Law hates me."

"Yeah, that could be a problem," Marco admitted.

"What am I going to do?"

"I'd say move on and download a dating app but last time didn't end so well."

"Yes, another stalker is what I need," she told him sarcastically. He’d always had better luck with online dating than her.

"Well, if he says no you can join me this weekend," Marco offered and she didn’t even have to ask him about his plans to know what he meant.

"I just might." Getting shit-faced might not have been the healthiest way to deal with rejection but as far as she was concerned, it was the most effective.

* * *

She stayed up way too late waiting for a reply from Rosinante and even when she dragged herself to bed she ended up tossing and turning for hours. She was just about to doze off when her phone lit up with a notification.

_Were you serious earlier?_

She sighed. Did people ask others out as a joke? _Of course I was!_

_Alright._

She could’ve screamed in frustration but forced herself to take a deep breath. _Is that supposed to be a yes?_

_Yes. :)_

She had to take a moment to compose herself. He’d used a smiley. Usually, she would’ve considered that downright tacky but coming from Rosinante it made her want to squee. She did her best not to sound too excited in her reply though. _This weekend, then? There's a new place I've been dying to try._

_I don't have a car :(_

That wasn’t exactly a shock, many people in the city chose to use public transportation or to simply walk. _Luckily I do <3 I'll pick you up. 5 pm? _

Her car was a nice one too, and she didn’t mind getting an opportunity to flaunt it. She didn’t care whether people knew she was wealthy or not — as long as they saw she had taste.

_Yes... And good night._

_Sweet dreams_ , she texted back, assuming this was his attempt to tell her to go to sleep. He wasn’t wrong, it was too late already. Unfortunately, her earlier anxiety had been replaced by giddiness that was just as likely to keep her awake. She wondered if she should get a dress for their date only to realize she didn’t even know where Rosinante lived.

* * *

The next morning Reiju ran into Bonney outside the hospital where she was purchasing a breakfast crepe. She waited with her for her order, sipping on the smoothie she’d brought with her from home. As they entered the hospital, they crossed paths with Law.

"Good morning, Law!" Reiju greeted him. Based on his disheveled looks he could do with some good cheer and she had more than enough to share that morning.

He gave her a withering stare.

"What?" Reiju asked, puzzled. Surely even he couldn’t get offended by an innocent greeting?

"You seem uncharacteristically chirpy," Law said.

"Do not, I'm always like this, I'm a joy to be around." She turned to Bonney for reassurance. "Right?"

"Totally, amen," Bonney nodded, licking whipped cream off her fingers.

"Whatever, I don't want to know," Law said, dismissing them and heading towards the elevator. Too bad they were heading in the same direction.

"Any plans for the weekend?" Reiju asked him, standing perhaps a bit closer than necessary.

It took Law a moment to realize Reiju was addressing him and not Bonney. "Are you still talking to me?"

"Yes, genius."

"Work," he said without turning to look at her.

"You're no fun." She was about to comment on him being more committed to his work than his spouse when a voice from behind distracted her.

"Law! Wait up!" A red-headed man raced across the floor toward them. "You forgot your lunch."

Reiju gave him a thorough once-over and didn’t miss the gold band gleaming on his finger. Oh, but this guy was not what she’d expected Law’s type to be like, not that she could fault his taste.

"Well, hello," she slid between them, offering her hand in greeting to the handsome stranger. "Who might you be?"

Before the man had a chance to do more than give her a dubious look, Bonney pushed her aside, peering into the man's face.

She frowned at him, an uncertain look on her face. "Kid?"

"Huh?" The man's head swiveled towards Bonney. " _Bonney_?"

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing here?" Bonney gaped at him, forgetting all about her half-eaten crepe. She turned to announce to Reiju, "I know this guy!"

"Eustass," Law said, his tone impatient.

"Uh, we were in the same foster care," he said, looking rather uncomfortable. He made a gesture towards Law that looked suspiciously like a sign, not that Reiju recognized it, before turning back to Bonney. "I didn't know you became a doctor? Good for you."

"Well, a dietitian actually," Bonney said with a grin.

"Wait! Your name's Kid? That's what Rosinante was trying to tell me!" Reiju gasped.

"Very observant, Dr. Vinsmoke, now can we get to work? Or would you like to hold a reunion right here?" Law asked.

Reiju didn't pay him any mind. So what if she was a little slow this morning? She'd slept under four hours. Instead, she stepped forward, grabbing Kid's hand so he couldn't ignore her again.

"I'm Reiju, nice to meet you, Law's told us so much about you!" she lied.

"Okay? I guess he's mentioned you once or twice," Kid said, though based on his expression it couldn't have been anything good.

"So how did you two meet?" she asked, still clinging to Kid's hand.

"That's none of your business," Law said, stepping closer. "I'm taking my lunch and going upstairs. And you're coming with me."

The last remark was addressed to Reiju and she couldn't help but pout a little. She was so curious! But she had a date with Rosinante, maybe she'd have more luck fishing for details from him. She let go of Kid with a sigh.

"Don't forget to fix the rice cooker," Law told his husband as he stepped into the elevator they'd already missed a dozen times.

Reiju followed him. "That's all you're gonna tell him? Not even a kiss goodbye?"

"I'm not going to indulge your fetishes."

The elevator doors started closing and Reiju stuck her arm between them to hold it for Bonney. "You coming?"

"Nah, I'm taking a sick day, Kid's gonna take me out for lunch!" Her eyes shone with excitement, and there was no trace of her usual sarcasm in her statement.

"Have fun." Reiju wasn't about to point out that she hadn't even finished her breakfast yet.

"So now that you've solved the mystery you gonna leave alone?" Law asked.

"You wish!" Reiju gave his shoulder a friendly pat.

If only he knew. Had Rosinante told him about their date she was certain he would've acted more antagonistic this morning. But he'd find out, eventually. And when that happened, it probably wouldn't be a pretty sight. But at least she'd have a front row seat.


End file.
